Forgiveness isn't the goal of Salvation

Union with Christ changes everything. Seriously.

(Hey you - yeah, you, the one reading this. You know what would be amazing? If you clicked that photo just above this and pre-order Home with God. Because the internet is such a terrible place, every time someone preorders this book, the algorithm thinks - “Wait a second, should we direct more people to this?” Wouldn’t that be awesome? You can help make that happen. Pre-orders are the #1 way you can help other people find this book. Thanks!)

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But seriously, what if we have? What if we’ve missed the most wonderful truth about salvation?

Most Christians thinks that the greatest gift of salvation is forgiveness. You may even be reading that sentence and think: “Wait are you telling me that forgiveness is not a gracious gift from God?”

No - I want to be clear - I am not saying that forgiveness is not a great gift that God provides in Christ Jesus. I am simply saying that forgiveness is not the goal of salvation.

When God created the world, His image bearers especially, He did not create them out a forgiving love. God created Adam and Eve, all of creation, out of the deliberate overflow of eternal Trinitarian love.

To say it simply: God created His people out of delighting love.

And that means that we were designed to live with and in the delighting love of God.

But, we ruined it. Our representative in the garden rebelled against God and life at home with Him in order to establish his own kingdom. His rebellion failed, but there were consequences.

All of us are born into this world “in Adam.” And “in Adam” we have homeless hearts.

Designed for home with God we are born into this world damned to live apart from Him.

But God is gracious. More gracious than we deserve. So in Christ he provides forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness is found in Christ Jesus and in Him alone. But forgiveness is the grounds of salvation, not the goal. The goal is fellowship with God.

God’s salvation isn’t just acquittal, it’s acceptance.

In Christ, God doesn’t just dismiss the sinner from the court of judgment, He welcomes him to the feast of the Father.

This is why the doctrine of union with Christ is so crucial. For it is in Christ that we find forgiveness and fellowship. In Christ alone.

I wrote Home with God: Our Union with Christ to make this truth unavoidable. It comes out in two weeks. You can pre-order it on Amazon here and everywhere else here.

“Is anything too wonderful for God?”

Nope.